Her Memory
by Mr. Blender
Summary: I find it hard to sleep at night. Since I was a teenager, I've been plagued with nightmares that jar me from my sleep. When I wake up, I can never remember what they were about. All I remember is a feeling of fear and helplessness. This was a minor problem until I began sleeping with my girlfriend. -Bubbline/One-Shot-


I find it hard to sleep at night. Since I was a teenager, I've been plagued with nightmares that jar me from my sleep. When I wake up, I can never remember what they were about. All I remember is a feeling of fear and helplessness. This was a minor problem until I began sleeping with my girlfriend. Bonnie could easily sleep through the night and, depending on the previous day, well through the morning. She actually makes me a little jealous with how peaceful she looks while she sleeps. At least, she does when I don't wake her up. It's been happening more and more often. They used to occur every once in a while. I now have the dreams at least four times a week. Tonight was no exception. At two in the morning, just like clockwork, my eyes force themselves open. I cry out loudly and sit up. My body feels cold, but sweat trickles down my back. I feel tears forming in my eyes.

"_I had one of __those__ dreams again.._." I think to myself, breathing heavily.

I feel a soft, warm hand touch my arm. I look slowly around and into my girlfriend's eyes. Her expression of concern is visible even in the dark.

"Marcy? You're shivering..." She says softly. I feel her get closer to my body and wrap her arms around my waist.

"Relax, Bonnie. It's nothing." I say softly, wiping my eyes.

"This is hardly nothing, Marceline. You're not sleeping… Day or night."

"That's not true. I sleep…"

She frowns. "When you do, you toss and turn." She shifts uncomfortably. "Sometimes you start crying…"

I kiss her head. "Sorry to mess up your sleep, babe. You probably need more than you're getting."

She looks up at me. "The only thing I care about is taking care of you. I can't stand hearing you cry like that." Her voice is filled with sadness. She holds me tighter.

"Bonnie… I don't think you can help. I've been having these nightmares for most of my life and I still don't even remember what they're about. They just happen."

She's silent for a moment. I can tell that the wheels are turning in her head. She quickly gets up from the bed and throws a shirt and a pair sweatpants on. I look at her with a questioning face.

"Bonnie? What are you doing?" I ask slowly.

"I'm going to find out how to take care of your nightmares. It must be something in your subconscious, some traumatic or terrible event that had significant emotional effect on your psyche. Perhaps, a repressed memory of some sort-"

"You're speaking science lingo, Bonnie."

"Your nightmares might be caused by something terrible that you don't want to remember."

"Might be?"

"Well, nothing's ever certain in the world. I could be wrong, but I have to try."

I raise my eyebrow. "How exactly do you plan on helping me?"

She stops in her tracks and faces me. Her fingers tap nervously on her hip. "I'm not sure. I'll figure it out, Marcy."

I get up from the bed. My hiss when I touch the cold floor earns a soft smile from Bonnie. "You don't have to figure it out-"

"Don't. I'm serious."

"It's just a minor-"

"Marceline. You woke up in a cold sweat, you cry in your sleep, you cry out, and I'm your girlfriend. I'm not going to stand by and let this happen to you. If I can do something to stop this…"

I run my hand through my hair and sigh heavily. "What if I don't want to know? I mean… Repressed memories? Shouldn't they stay… repressed?"

"Not when they affect sleep. That's a bad sign."

"Do we have to do this at two in the morning?" I ask.

"Two in the morning is as good a time as any for science." She says with a smile. She moves toward me and hugs my body tightly. "Besides, the sooner I know that you're alright… The better off I'll be. So get some clothes on and let's get to the lab."

I smile and press a kiss to her lips. "Alright, let's go then."

After I quickly steal some of her clothes, we head to her lab. It's a huge room that looks like a madman organized it. A large table sits in the middle with dozens of different experiments on it. Somehow, she can find everything she needs in there. I float silently behind her as she dons her lab coat. I can't help but comment how cute she looks wearing a baggy shirt and sweatpants with a lab coat over it. She makes a remark about the pink clothes that I'm wearing.

"Hey, it was the first thing I could find. Besides, they have your scent all over them." I say, pulling the shirt closer to my face and inhaling deeply for emphasis. She shakes her head in amusement and continues looking.

"Now, when did these nightmares start?" She asks.

I bite my lip and tap my hand on the table. "I think they first started when I was about thirteen. I-I had them off and on throughout my teenage years. They just started returning when I-"I pause and search for words.

"When you started sleeping with me." She replies, moving a pen in her mouth from side to side.

"Right..."

"Hmm… So, obviously this memory must have come from your earlier childhood. Your relationship with me is causing the return of the memory, but why? What is this memory? You're sure you don't remember anything from the dreams?"

"I never do. All I know is they scare me…" I say softly, shivering a little. Bonnie notices my discomfort and holds onto my hand. She squeezes it. We talk about the dreams for about an hour, getting no farther in figuring out how to end them.

"It's alright. We'll figure this out together... I'll need a little time to think about this information. Should you try for sleep again, sweetie?" She asks, concerned.

"Might as well… You coming?" I ask, giving a little tug on her hand.

"Yeah."

* * *

I follow her back to bed, but I couldn't sleep now if I wanted to. I'm racking my brain to figure out what could be causing the nightmares that scare her so much. What memory could she want to forget so badly? What did it have to do with her relationship with me? How do the pieces line up? I need to find out. I sit up in bed and watch her when I'm sure she's asleep. I don't often get to see her sleeping. She's always up before I am. I give her credit, as I'm quite a late sleeper sometimes. When I wake up, she's always there next to me. One of the greatest feelings in the world is to wake up in her arms. I count myself lucky to have found someone who loves me like she does. But, these dreams are affecting her negatively. She may brush them off and act like they don't bother her. I don't believe her. She's getting less and less sleep every day. I could tell how they affect her when she talked about them.

"Oh, Marcy… What am I going to do with you?" I whisper. "I can't help you if you can't remember… I can't be in your head."

I pause. "But, what if I could be?" If I could find some way to tap into her memories while they were happening, I would be able to see the memory that causes her nightmares. We would be able to better confront the problem. I slowly get up from bed, being careful not to wake her. I remember starting to make a device that would allow me to go inside an individual's mind. I had nailed down how it worked and what it looked like, but never had the time to build it. It was eventually pushed aside in favor of my other duties as ruler. I frown.

"Bubblegum, you idiot. Where did you put those blueprints?" I mutter to myself. I run down to the lab and sort through my uncompleted files. It takes me a while, but I eventually find it. It looks easy enough to construct. Seeing as I won't get any sleep tonight, I tie my hair back and get to work. It's five in the morning when I finally finish it. Marceline comes down to the lab and sees me putting the finishing touches on the device.

"Don't tell me you've been down here all night…" She says, raising her eyebrow at me.

"Yes, I have. But, that doesn't matter. I may have found a way to see your repressed memory."

"You didn't need to-"

I wave her words away and pick the device up. "This is the answer to your problem."

"It looks like an old TV remote." She says, scratching her head.

"It's a lot more advanced than that. This device will link to my brain and transfer my consciousness into your mind."

"Look, I love you. Like, really love you. But, I don't know how I feel about you rummaging through my memories. Some of those are really personal."

"My only interest is knowing what memory is causing your nightmares. That way, we can address why this is making itself known now."

"But, how will you tell which one it is?"

I sigh softly. "While you sleep, I'm going to go directly into your mind while you're having the nightmare. That way, it will be easier to find."

"Isn't this a little dangerous?"

She looks a little skeptical. I don't really blame her. I nod and tell her that there will always be a little risk. But, it's worth it to end this. She looks down.

"Alright, Bonnie. I trust you. Just… be careful…"

She holds onto my hand. Our fingers intertwine as we both hope we can help to end her nightmares. A whole day passes normally. We hang out with Finn and his girlfriend, Flame Princess. As day turns to night, we all head back home. We say our goodbyes and head back to the castle. We both prepare for what comes next.

"How am I supposed to go to sleep if I know you're going into my head?" She asks.

"I can cuddle with you if you want." I say cheerfully.

She smiles and changes into sleep clothes. We climb into bed. It takes about an hour for her to fall asleep. I slowly get up for the device, which I left on the bedside table. I link it to my head and point it toward Marceline.

"Let's hope this works…" I say to myself. I see her starting to move uncomfortably, a worried look on her face. I press the button and feel a jolt through my head. I close my eyes tightly.

I'm surprised by the sudden cold that I feel all over my body. When my eyes open, I find myself in a snowy forest. My breath turns to mist as I breathe in and out.

"_Where am I?_" I wonder to myself, taking a few steps in the snow. Off in the distance I can hear voices. I move slowly toward them. The voices get louder as I get closer and closer to them. I see a young Marceline talking to an older man with a beard wearing a crown.

"_Ice King?_" I whisper softly.

"_Simon… What do you mean?"_

"_I've left you with what you need to take care of yourself. You can do it. You're a tough girl…_ _I have to leave you now…"_

"_Why?"_

"_I can no longer take care of you. I'm not well… The crown is changing me."_

My heart aches as I see tears forming in her eyes. _"Can't you just take the crown off?"_

"_I'm sorry, Marceline. It's too late for that."_

"_But, maybe I can-"_

"_NO!"_ He yells loudly. I cringe at his fierce tone. She's crying. It sounds exactly how it does when she sleeps. It's a terrible, heart-wrenching sound.

"_I-I'm sorry…"_ She sobs. I can see the sadness spread on his face.

"_No. I'm sorry. You deserve so much more than this, Marceline. But, I'm can't give that to you. I'm too far gone..." _Tears fall down his face.

"_Simon, I don't want you to go…"_

"_I have to. For your sake. Don't follow me, Marceline."_ He starts to walk away. Her sobs become louder as she watches him.

"_Simon!"_ She cries out. She starts to run toward him, but trips in the snow and falls into the snow. Simon keeps walking away, ignoring her. Her cries break my heart and I feel the tears streaming down my face. It's getting colder and the wind is picking up.

"_Simon!"_ He doesn't listen and continues walking. He soon disappears into the snowy wind, leaving this little girl broken in the middle of the forest. I want to help her so badly. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only a memory. I've seen enough. There's no way I could watch this anymore. I press the button and leave this painful memory behind. I leave it with a full understanding of why the nightmare scares her so much.

* * *

I'm forced awake with an intense cold feeling running all over my body. Tears flow down my cheeks. Her presence in my mind forces the memory to the surface. I sniff and turn my head to see Bonnie standing next to the bed. Her face is wet with tears. I wipe my eyes and crawl out of bed.

"Bonnie? Are you alright?" I ask.

She doesn't say anything, but looks at me sadly. Her lips tremble as she slowly unlinks the device from her head and sets it down on the table. I don't know what to do other than walk up and hold her. She squeezes me tightly and cries openly into my shoulder.

"I-I'm so sorry…" She cries.

"Sorry? Bonnie, you didn't do any-"

"No. The memory… I'm so sorry you had to go through that… The fear and helplessness you must have felt…"

"It's alright." I say, my voice cracking a bit. We hold each other closely, not wanting to let go. The memory is no longer repressed and sticks coldly in my mind. It's a long time before either of us speak.

"I will never leave you…" She says softly.

I look into her eyes. I smile. "I know you won't, Bonnie. I know you won't."

"I think you were afraid… Afraid that finding someone you love would end like that again."

I'm silent. She kisses me on the lips. "I love you, Marceline. Nothing is ever going to change that. For as long as I live."

I kiss her back. "Thank you… For all you've done for me…" I pause and give her a smile. "Now… Let's get to bed."

She nods. "I couldn't agree more."

So, for the first time in a long time, I'm completely at peace as I lie in bed with the love of my life. She snuggles up close and we fall asleep in each other's arms.

_I sleep all through the night._

End.


End file.
